The Meranaw In Weddings: Understanding Pragmatics

Abstract

The Meranaw people are fond of “pananaroon” or proverbs. Most of the old folks use these proverbs to express their thoughts toward a situation. Meranaw and non-meranaw alike who are not exposed to the Meranaw community may misunderstood and misinterpret this Meranaw sarcasm as expressed through proverbs. By using qualitative analytical approach, this research paper aims to unveil the Meranaw pragmatics by analyzing and semiotically interpreting video recorded Meranaw speech acts delivered in Meranaw wedding gathering along with the reactions of the people involved in the interaction. Some of the aspects of language studied in pragmatics which are also be considered in studying the data include diexis, presupposition,performative,and implicature. The study shows how junctures plays a vital role in understanding pananaroon. Morever, the study shows that the Meranaw people are one of those whose language is very powerful in the society. It will take an outsider to immerse himself with the folks to fully understand what a word means and or a gesture means.